love to hate
by jhoom
Summary: William Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are both famous actors, known for their amazing on screen chemistry. But what the audience thinks of as romantic is really Darcy's confused crush and Elizabeth's disgust. Too bad they each think the other's on the same page about where they stand. (warning: not a happy ending, future installments will remedy that)
1. love to hate

**AN:** Stole this prompt from unforth's Writing Prompt Wednesday: The fuel for our onscreen chemistry that apparently makes us hot as hell to watch - don't ask me, I don't see it either - comes from a decade of hating each other's damn guts, and, well, at least it lets us rake the money in but I am so fricken sick of seeing your face in every damn movie and show I do…

I love unforth's Writing Prompt Wednesday... I have so many fics I would love to write based on them. I actually planned on writing this one a while ago, but then I started What's in a Name and (whoops) that's turning out longer than expected. I opened a file earlier to jot down some notes on this story since I had a free minute... and it kinda snowballed into an actual story pretty quickly. Oh well, I'm more than happy to go where my muse is interested in being right now.

Just as an aside, since I feel this warrants mentioning, I know like... nothing about acting or the film industry (besides the part where I watch movies). So... let's hope nothing sounds too far fetched :)

* * *

The Darcys and the Coppolas are the two biggest families in the film industry, filled with some of the most talented actors and filmmakers of their generation. It's of course expected for William Darcy to continue in his father's footsteps and do something with film. He's pushed into acting early on as a child, and he just sort of goes with it. He never takes the time to figure out if it's something _he_ wants, but he _does_ enjoy it, so there's no need to question the decision.

He's about to start a new project that a friend recommended. It has a new, up-and-coming director that does a lot of quirky not-quite-comedies but not-quite-dramas. The script's interesting and he knows some of the other actors so he takes on the leading role.

Shortly after his first day on set, he's introduced to the other cast members. After a few brief hello's they break off into smaller groups to chat. Darcy's not terribly surprised to find himself pulled away by Caroline Bingley. They've never worked together, but he's good friends with her brother so they know each other well.

She talks his ear off about whatever big party she's just attended, or the latest rumors about the Oscars, or maybe about such and such celebrity's secret wedding. This isn't exactly new to Darcy, his only option is to _direct_ her line of thinking so that she falls on topics that interest him. Minimal participation, besides the occasional nod, scoff or laugh, are required on his part.

As she goes on and on about (drat, he stopped listening), his eyes end up following one of the other actresses. If he remembers correctly, she's his co-star. He makes a mental note to do a proper job of introducing himself later. But Caroline notices his staring, and the gossiping commences.

"I see you've noticed Miss Elizabeth Bennet," she coos, and he knows instantly she's about to tell him everything she's ever heard about the other woman.

He tries not to appear too interested.

In no short order, he finds out that Elizabeth is the second oldest of five sisters. That they come from a decently wealthy family, but that she's the only one in "the business".

(Caroline scoffs at the very idea of trying to make it in the industry alone - she has an aunt who was a famous actress some years ago, and has done a great deal to ride on her coattails. She's even gone so far as to style most of her headshots in the old style of 60's. Darcy's seen the prints, they look _identical_ to her aunt's. So mission accomplished, he supposes.)

The other sisters all are reasonably talented as well. (And yes, he notes the way she says "reasonably" talented, as though Elizabeth only possesses the smallest modicum of acting ability.) The eldest, Jane, is a model. Caroline does concede that the woman is quite pretty, doing the type of high fashion that is actually more along the lines of art. But success doesn't interest her, so she moves on to other sisters quickly.

Mary is an opera singer, though with mixed reviews. And there's a sister, Kitty she thinks the name is, who has a local talkshow in "some city" (which he takes to mean one not as exciting as her home town of New York). And then the youngest, Lydia, has a clothing line that Caroline is all too pleased to talk about. By the end he can't tell if it's because it's too gaudy and she hates it, or it's spectacularly en garde and she loves it.

Then once she's out of juicy tidbits to share, she asks Darcy what he thinks of her with a knowing type of smile. Like she knows what he's about to say and she's in on the secret. He just shrugs and comments that she doesn't have the "right look" for the part. She doesn't have that certain "Hollywood figure" that he's come to expect from leading ladies. Caroline chuckles, comfortable in the fact that she herself _does_ have that "look."

Unfortunately for Darcy, he's too wrapped up in the conversation to notice that Elizabeth herself had been making her way over. That she's close enough to hear the last part of their exchange, particularly the easy dismissal of her because of her looks. Taken slightly aback, she just turns around and walks away. She's professional enough that she'll never bring it up to him what she overheard. But she's not gracious enough to forgive him.

(And even more unfortunate, it's not until later Darcy realizes he wasn't exactly wrong, that she doesn't have the super thin look that casting directors seem to be going for these days, but that it doesn't mean she's not attractive. Actually he finds it quite the opposite. She's got the perfect mix between a more athletic build and softer lines that actually makes her perfect for a lot of the "girl next door" roles she's been getting so far.)

Darcy never really finds the opportunity to say anything to her before filming starts. It almost seems like she's avoiding him, but that doesn't make sense so he dismisses the thought.

Even without talking, they work together seamlessly. He's never connected so well with another actor so quickly. And the crew seems to notice, if the pleased chatter by the director's chair is anything to go by. They're actually playing opposite each other as rivals, but there's obviously _something_ between them that translates very well to the screen.

It also carries over very well when months later they have to start making rounds to promote the movie. During interviews they tease and jab at each other as though they were still in character. (At least, that's Darcy's assumption. There's no other way for him to interpret some of the things Elizabeth says.)

During some interview, someone says that Elizabeth's character "loves to hate" Darcy's character.

"I couldn't agree more!" Elizabeth says through a fit of giggles.

It's adorable.

The movie's a huge success, which leads to them getting cast together for their next role as well. Not that either knew at the time they accepted the part. This time it's an action movie where they're spies working together to save the world from some rogue faction. The plot is complete nonsense, truth be told, but it's a fun summer blockbuster. Darcy doesn't do a lot of them, but his sister loves seeing him in that type of movie that he occasionally caves in and does one.

The scene that always gets the most acclaim is the one where Elizabeth's character punches his. Everyone always talks about that scene, begs them to re-create it for promos and interviews. They usually do since it never fails to get an audience screaming.

He's always polite enough to not mention that she did, in fact, _accidentally_ punch him during one of the takes. And it just so happened to be the take they used. And she did manage to give him a black eye from that. She looked mortified when she saw the bruise forming almost instantly. It was actually kind of endearing the way she'd demanded to hold the ice pack herself, ignoring his protests that it was fine.

He also ignores the fact that it's probably the nicest she's ever been to him.

But that scene just epitomizes their on screen relationship. The chemistry's there in a feisty way. Maybe a little rough around the edges, but there's no arguing with the end result.

There are rumors everywhere once the movie comes out that characters must be really into each other because it's easy to interpret the way they interact as being very flirty. People go on and on about the actors' chemistry adding that great little facet to the movie that otherwise wouldn't have been there. (And let's face it, the movie is so shallow it desperately needs even that little bit to make it palatable.)

And once the word "chemistry" comes up, it's all anyone ever talks about when they bring up the two actors. Every role they take opposite someone else is always compared to the chemistry Darcy and Elizabeth have. Other movies will always fall short in the public's eyes, other actors will always be miscast, and this movie will live forever as the one that opened people's eyes to the Darcy-Elizabeth pairing.

Darcy notices that whenever they say that in an interview, Elizabeth's eyes narrow dangerously but she puts on a smile and jokes about how she secretly just wants to slap him sometimes (or kick him or throw him down a flight of stairs... the specific answer always varies but the gist of it is always the same), but she has to play nice or the Darcy clan will rebel against her and she'll never get work again.

(She says it frequently enough he starts to wonder if there's any truth behind it.)

Shortly after the hype for their movie dies down, he takes a long break from filming. Almost a whole year to spend time with his family and catch up with friends. He's done project after project for so long, it's hard to remember how to be a real person sometimes.

While he's busy vacationing, he keeps up with the film industry. He likes to know who's doing what because he gets to feel at least a little involved that way. His phone alerts him when Elizabeth's next part is announced. (So what if he set an alert for when she's in the news? He's just curious about a co-star.)

It's some independent film with George Wickham. He reads the headline about five times before it fully sinks in. He barely notices the way his friends are asking him what's wrong as he walks from the pool into the house. Doesn't remember what excuse he gives them either but he just _needs a minute_.

He means to send her a text warning her about how unsavory Wickham can be, especially a week later he sees some tabloid with pictures of them going out drinking together. But then he realizes they've never actually talked to each other outside of work related things. What would he even say if she asks what he means? It's not like he tell her the truth.

He deletes the text.

The next time Darcy sees her at an award banquet, she mentions that Wickham talked about him. He raises an eyebrow at that, because he doubts Wickham has nothing good to say about him and the feeling's quite mutual. But he also hopes Elizabeth wouldn't blindly trust someone she'd just met over him. They've been working together for years! No, she must be curious and nothing more.

When she asks how they know each other, he decides to be vague because he doesn't really want to go into the sordid details. Somehow that only seems to annoy her. He wants to backtrack and fix things so that she'll stop glaring at him and making vaguely snide comments. But he's not sure how.

They don't say two whole sentences to each other for the rest of the evening, despite the fact that they're sitting at the same table.

Over the next few years, they get cast a few more times together, though for a while not as the two leads. But even then, all audiences talk about is how the screen just lights up when the two of them are on together. There's practically public outcry for them to do another major project together.

And they do. It's a big budget, period piece romance. The sets are _amazing_. The costumes are _spectacular_. And the director is _phenomenal_ and already has two Oscars. Darcy probably wouldn't have turned it down anyway, but when he hears they're trying to cast Elizabeth too it _might_ solidify his decision. It takes months, though, to negotiate a contract with her. She outright refuses the first few times they try to cast her, but eventually relents once the paycheck is big enough.

(Darcy just thinks it's a bargaining tactic. There's no reason he can see why she wouldn't want to do the picture. And it works, as far as he can tell, because she'll be making several million more than him for this movie.)

Everything's the same between them on set for most of shooting. Their usual dynamic of banter and this weird almost passive-aggressive flirting. They don't hang out during production, they never have, but they're stuck around each other a lot at the director's insistence.

Sometimes Darcy notices that Elizabeth's grumpy about it. He starts walking over and her expression just sours for a moment before she wipes it clean and puts on a fake smile. (As though he doesn't know it's fake - they've worked together how long? He knows which smiles are real and which are for the camera.) So he tries to cheer her up, tells her about things he read in the newspaper or dumb jokes he heard or shows her silly internet memes Charles sends him.

But all that just seems to frustrate her even more.

Then they start filming the building romance between their characters. Anyone with eyes could tell you the _immediate_ change in tone on set. The air is _thick_ with sexual tension the longer they keep filming. The closer their characters get, the more uncomfortable it is. The chemistry is fucking _tangible_ at this point, which is ridiculous.

Darcy's a little surprised, actually. Not because he doesn't think she's attractive (he knows better by now), but because he thought he'd be able to keep a grip on himself. But then he realizes, after seeing a few of the takes, that it's working _really well_ for the movie. So he kinda goes with it. Purposely channels it.

Which brings out some strange look in Elizabeth. The intensity in her eyes when they lean in for a kiss. And then again, because they need a new angle. And again, because the lighting was wrong. Again again again. It's driving him crazy because he's pretty sure he's never going to be able to forget the way she tastes or smells now. Each time feels a little more desperate, a little more passionate.

They make it through three days like that. Three days of being driven slowly insane.

After a particularly long day of filming, Darcy walks off set and plans to head straight to his trailer. He needs a drink or he's going to be too wound up to sleep. About ten steps later he practically _feels_ her coming up behind him. Gives her a questioning look but then she's dragging him back to his trailer.

The door's barely closed before she's on him, lips against his and hands _everywhere_. His body responds before he's mentally caught up, not that he's in any way going to stop this once it sinks in. It's a struggle to not just rip off her damn clothes, but he knows the costume department would give him an ear full if so much as pulls off a button.

With careful eagerness, they quickly undress and then they're on his bed.

It's passionate and wild and probably pretty loud (there's no doubt anyone walking by would know _exactly_ what they're doing). But Darcy is long past caring because _yes_. _Finally_. It's Elizabeth and he has her and this is probably the best night of his life. Fuck he's far gone on this woman. And it's so _nice_ to not have to deny it, not have to hide it or pretend it's just acting.

He holds her after and just enjoys the feeling of being with her as he tries to catch his breath. He's almost managed it when she pulls away and gets up.

"Well that was fun."

"Yes," he agrees, a little confused.

She's hopping around the mess of clothes, trying to find her own and manages nothing more than her underwear and bra. It takes only one aborted attempt at putting the dress back on before she thinks better of the effort.

"I really needed that." Now she's rummaging through his closet, pulling on a t-shirt and pair of sweatpants. "I mean, I've experienced character bleed before, but things were just getting _ridiculous_." And she laughs. Actually _laughs_.

"Character bleed?" he repeats dumbly. He just watches, frozen to the bed, as she starts picking up her costume, takes a second to push back some stray hairs.

"Well, I know you didn't think that was _me_ who jumped you when we came in here." No laugh this time, but there's definite humor in her voice. "Don't worry, I dislike you as much as I know you dislike me." She checks herself in the wall mirror before apparently giving up on making herself look presentable. "But some chemistry is better than no chemistry I guess." With a shrug she adds, "At least it pays the bills, right?"

Darcy is confident he's hearing everything correctly, and judging by the numbness he's feeling he's at least peripherally aware of how _bad it is_. He notices her looking at him with an eyebrow raised, waiting expectantly. "Oh, yeah I guess," he says lamely.

But it must be enough. She gives him a smile before she's out the door, quick footfalls retreating from his trailer.

To say he sleeps poorly that night is an understatement. He tosses and turns, tormented by dreams of a woman he cares about taunting him with kisses that she doesn't mean. When he manages to wake for a few moments, it's only to roll over to pull someone in for an embrace... and to find himself alone in his bed.

The next morning isn't pleasant. He's got a heading from lack of sleep and even the strongest coffee he's got does nothing to chase away his grogginess. Or his bad mood. All he can do is think about Elizabeth's words over and over.

 _I dislike you as much as I know you dislike me._

How could he have so badly misinterpreted- Never mind. It doesn't matter. He's a professional. This will _not_ effect his work. Or how he behaves towards Elizabeth. He owes her that much, at least, for somehow giving her the idea that he doesn't even like her.

With a sigh, he leaves his trailer to go face the day.

* * *

 **AN:** So what I think I'm going to do is a three-shot. This story is self-contained and could be done, but I plan on getting around to adding an Elizabeth POV continuation of this at some point. I'm gonna be vague about the timeline on that though - I've got a couple WIPs I gotta finish first before I officially pick this up as a multi-chapter (or multi-installment) fic.


	2. hate to love

**General AN:** This is just a little PSA/note to anyone who follows my writing in general on ff dot net. My frustrations with some aspects of the site are causing me to switch permanently to ao3 as a means of publishing fics. I won't be publishing any new works on this site, so if you're interested in continuing to read my stuff, you'll have to switch over to my tumblr (jhoomwrites) or ao3 (jhoom) accounts. HOWEVER, because I have a number of unfinished WIPs and series on this site, I will continue to update those until they're complete. That means that the following stories/series WILL continue to be updated on ff dot net: The Mark; Academy Blues; love to hate; What's in a Name?; any fics related to Welcome to SKU. Anything new that I post that is NOT related to those stories will NOT be published here.

* * *

 **AN:** I've been meaning to write this for *months* and finally forced myself to sit down and do it :) This is Lizzie's POV from the previous chapter and goes a little bit past the original story. I plan on doing a third installment at some point where I wrap the whole thing up, but that is still a ways away at the moment.

Friendly reminder that I have *no* idea how film making works, so if I make mistakes in presenting either, I apologize.

Also wanted to point out that in direct contrast to how I portray her in What's in a Name?", Caroline is *not* a bad guy here. She's just an oblivious gossip who's friendly if not a bit shallow.

* * *

Elizabeth Bennet always thought of herself as an open-minded and fair individual. Although she liked to tease, she was never truly mean to someone without reason. But once she deemed someone deserving of her distaste, well, it was hard to change her mind on the matter.

Which made it particularly unfortunate that her first encounter with her future co-star went so poorly.

She'd heard of William Darcy, of course (who in the industry hadn't?), and was curious to meet the man himself. There'd been plenty of times she'd seen his face plastered on billboards or the front covers of magazines, so she knew he was a rather handsome man. And the few interviews she'd seen made him seem nice enough. Plus she'd always been a fan of his father's work as a child, loved what he did as an actor and even more his films as a director. The idea of working with his son was a pleasant one.

Until she overheard him talking to Caroline Bingley about her looks. How her lack of a "Hollywood figure" wouldn't do her any favors in casting. That her "look" wasn't right for the current part. She could practically _see_ the skepticism oozing from the words, the implications that she wouldn't be able to pull off the role.

Needless to say, it irked her. Sure, she was used to being judged by her appearance rather than her talent - it was merely the nature of acting until you were more established - but to not even be given the _chance_ by a _co-star_ of all people.

Admittedly, the guy didn't seem that bad. He was professional and polite, if not a bit of an awkward conversationalist. Once the camera was rolling, they worked together seamlessly. It was one of the easiest roles she's had to date, in no small part due to Darcy. She honestly couldn't find any reason to fault him other than a conversation she'd mistakenly eavesdropped on. Yes, she was still annoyed that he held such views and, worse yet, would voice them _out loud_. But she was willing to let it go.

Mostly. She tried to avoid him during filming as much as possible, more for her own sanity than anything else. She liked being able to think well of him, and she was somewhat worried that too much time together might ruin it.

When filming was over, she had a few months off before they needed to do their press tours. She had a small project lined up with _the_ Catherine de Bourgh, the first female director to win an Oscar. It was a short film and Lizzie's part was rather small. There was no reason to expect filming to interfere with her obligations for other roles, and she was all too happy at the prospect of learning something from one of the biggest female names in the industry.

She told Charlotte as much during their next Skype call. Charlotte, her lovely best friend and agent.

"You know Catherine de Bourgh is Darcy's aunt, right?"

That took the wind out of her sails, mostly because of the shock. But yes, Catherine de Bourgh's sister was Darcy's step-mom and his father's third wife. So technically, she _was_ Darcy's aunt. Sort of.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Charlotte comforted. "Just because her sorta nephew is stuck up, doesn't mean she is."

Charlotte was right. No reason to be prejudiced against Darcy's extended family, especially when Darcy himself wasn't _that bad_.

But also, because isn't that just Lizzie's luck, Charlotte was wrong. Catherine de Bourgh was about ten times worse than Darcy. The first day on set all she heard about is how esteemed the de Bourgh's were, that their whole family was immensely talented. Why, even their extended family was quite established as well.

Elizabeth wanted to gag. Because really, how often could one feasibly turn a conversation around to make a point about their own sense of self-importance? It'd almost be impressive if it weren't so damn annoying.

Things only got worse when Miss de Bourgh found out Lizzie had just completed a project with Darcy. Then she went on and on about how _amazingly_ talented the Darcy's were, and William especially. That it was so great to see a young man in his prime doing phenomenal work, even when paired with sub par actors.

Which turned into criticism - all well-meaning, naturally - of Elizabeth. She got an earful of unsolicited advice about her look and how to fix it. In front of the _entire cast and crew_.

Elizabeth quit the project that day, thanking Catherine de Bourgh for her time and patience so sarcastically that the crew watched with wide eyes. (Miss de Bourgh seemed oblivious to the intended slight, graciously telling her that she'll never make it in Hollywood if she can't conform to the expectations of those better equipped to know what the public wanted to see.)

She vented to Charlotte for a solid hour, ending with an exasperation declaration that, "Maybe that's why Darcy's such a pain. He's just as stuck up as his aunt about their family name and legacy. How dare us outsiders with a different 'look' and no 'grand name' try to get work with them without worshiping the ground they walk on."

Her opinion of Darcy didn't improve much as they did their round of interviews and promos. He never really tried talking to her unless it was on camera and under the direction of interviewers. During the actual interviews, he matched her passive aggressiveness step by step. It was proof enough that he fit in perfectly with Miss de Bourgh and she wanted nothing to do with that kind of attitude.

(Charlotte did point out Elizabeth had described him as socially awkward, which was probably why he wasn't able to work past the 'small talk' phase. And she even went as far to suggest that maybe he was just following her lead in the interviews. It did seem to her that they were more or less playing their characters, and maybe it put him at ease.)

(Elizabeth ignored the idea.)

On their second project together, she accidentally punched him. Despite the look he gave her right after it happened, it _was_ an accident. So maybe there'd been a couple times she'd _imagined_ punching him. It was frustrating having to work so closely with someone who didn't like her much and whom she didn't particularly care for either. Imagining her fist connecting with his face was occasionally a calming way for her to deal with that frustration.

But day dreams and reality were very separate things. Actually doing it felt _terrible_ and she was mortified. In a panic, she held the ice pack for him and envisioned worse case scenarios where his family would have her blacklisted from any half-decent projects and her career would be over.

Surprisingly, Darcy was incredibly nice about it. Somehow that made it worse. And though it was brought up all the time in interviews later on, he was a good sport about it and never outed her for actually making contact and giving him a black eye. Though he did tend to give her a funny look whenever it was brought up, and she wondered what he really thought about the whole thing.

The whole Darcy thing was a mystery to her. Half the time he seemed like a decent guy, then she'd hear him say something that reminded him of how stuck up he seemed. His casual dismissal of certain actors, his obvious dislike for some directors, and his refusal to work with a few people. (Okay, that last one was a rumor she'd heard and never been able to prove. But the fact that the rumor existed was enough for Lizzie to belief some truth must be in it.) It painted the picture of someone blown up by his own self-importance.

It didn't help that the audiences ate it up whenever they were seen together. It got to the point where she had to bite the inside of her lip to keep form screaming whenever someone asked about their "great chemistry." She took on project after project that had nothing to do with William Darcy, and still they'd ask about him. Compare new co-stars and their on screen work to how it inevitably fell short of her performances with Darcy.

(Admittedly, she _had_ had to carry the whole film when she worked with Will Collins. Mr. Collins was good at scenes that he was in alone or was the dominate character, but anything involving honest to god human interaction fell flat.)

(And who cared if she and Darcy had "chemistry"? Yes, they read each other extremely well on camera. Yes, it was beyond easy to work with him, as natural as when she'd played dress up with his sisters as a child. And yes, he was very handsome once he got into character. The picture charm and confidence and ease. But all of that ended as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.)

A few years later, Charlotte talked her into a film. The last five pitches she'd heard included talks of casting William Darcy alongside her, and she'd flat out refused to hear them. So really, it didn't take much for Charlotte to get her to take on this particular role.

The rest of the cast was amazing, friendly to a degree she hadn't encountered before. After filming one day, she relented to George Wickham and Kate Younge's pestering and went out for drinks. They were so easy to get along with that Elizabeth found herself perhaps a little drunk. Somehow they get on the conversation of her earlier parts and that leads to talking about Darcy.

"He called me fat," she pouted over the rim of her shot glass. She downed the tequila and added, "And his aunt's an ass."

Perhaps she'd had too much to drink, because she missed the look that Wickham and Miss Younge shared. But then Wickham was leaning forward conspiratorially and telling her truly terrible things about the other man. About their shared childhood since he was Darcy's cousin, since his mother was sisters with Darcy senior's second wife or something like that. It gave her a headache to try and put the family tree in order, so she didn't bother.

It was a sordid tale of how Darcy had been jealous of Wickham when they were children because his father had liked him. How Darcy's father had even continued sending him birthday gifts and inviting him on family trips after the divorce. That the rivalry (completely fabricated by Darcy, because Wickham had no interest in it) had continued into adulthood. That he'd been denied his inheritance when Darcy's father had passed some years ago - a lovely home in southern California - and Darcy had even gotten him cut from a movie.

Miss Younge nodded at each new revelation, adding other details about Darcy's womanizing and snobbishness. It all painted a picture of a terrible, vindictive person. One that was slightly at odds with what Lizzie had seen firsthand, but enough of it fit in with her opinion of him that she ate it up.

(When she later tried to confront Darcy about it a few months later, he seemed uncomfortable but didn't rise to the bait. Quite frankly, it was annoying.)

She didn't see much of Darcy after that, but it was just her luck that she happened to run into Caroline Bingley at a party. Caroline, despite her reputation, was a harmless gossip. Any malevolent intent some people saw in her was simply misinterpreting her desire to share any and everything she'd ever heard about anyone ever. Yes, she talked behind people's backs, but she did so equally. Elizabeth didn't necessarily approve, but she was able to find amusement in Caroline's company once she got over that nothing said between them would ever remain there.

And since Caroline was the only familiar face at this particular event, Elizabeth was content to let her presence deter others looking to make small talk. (Could she help it if she was in a bad mood? She'd had a terrible week of filming on location in the desert. She'd simply run out of patience for the moment and needed to recoup before she was up to putting on a fake smile and schmoozing)

Caroline babbled on about this that and the other. The scandal of Miss Dashwood, which was only now making the tabloids but that Caroline said she'd known about for _months_ since she was "close personal friends" with her, was the majority of the conversation. But somehow that romance turning sour led to talk of new, budding relationships.

"I heard from my brother, who you will remember is a best friend with our mutual acquaintance William Darcy, that Darcy is secretly dating Anne de Bourgh. Which I know the reporters will spin as incestuous, but they're not even related by blood. Honestly, they'll just want to play up a scandal because scandals sell."

And she went on about how they were a good couple, mostly because of their backgrounds and families. Surprisingly little was said of Anne de Bourgh herself - her likes, her interests, her profession, or her personality. When she points that out, Caroline laughs and says, "Darling, this is showbiz. No one cares about any of _that_."

(A few weeks later, when Lizzie saw a tabloid proclaiming that very rumor, she couldn't quite explain why she felt let down by it.)

It was unavoidable, given their stardom, that they'd run into each other. It didn't happen as often as it used to when they worked together, but there were a few times their paths crossed. At those events, Elizabeth made a point of not seeking him out and noticed he did the same. It helped solidify her opinion of him, assured her that it was mutual dislike.

(So what if Charlotte's voice kept whispering in the back of her mind that he was shy. That he didn't know how to approach her because she could be intimidating. What did that matter? Look what he'd done to Wickham. That surely could not be excused by 'being shy.')

Then _that role_ gets offered to her. The period piece romance. The brilliant reunion between herself and William Darcy on screen.

Charlotte was baffled when she turned it down. The director had asked for her _by name_. She was _the only_ leading lady they were considering. This was the role of a lifetime.

"But it's a romance," Elizabeth explained. "And Darcy's been cast as the other lead."

"Elizabeth Bennet," Charlotte hissed. "I can't believe you."

"You know we can't stand each other. The thought of kissing him makes my stomach turn!"

(She ignored that she's not completely sure if it's in a good or bad way. She _did_ know is that she didn't really want to examine the reason why.)

"You're an _actress_. _Act_ like he doesn't make your skin crawl."

Charlotte kept pushing and pushing, but Elizabeth was steadfast in her refusal. But eventually it's just _so much_ money that she had to reconsider. She could buy her parents a new house, could help Lydia fund that new clothing line. Justify the time off to have a real vacation with Jane.

"Look, Lizzie," Charlotte pleaded, "I know you think the guy's a bit of a jerk, but he's not a _complete_ asshole, right? It's just a job. You're a professional, he's a professional. You can manage this."

So she caved and said yes. Because dammit if Charlotte wasn't right.

Over the next few months before filming started, Charlotte made it her mission to flood Elizabeth's inbox with articles about William Darcy. His recent volunteer work. His newest charity. The girl with leukemia who asked him on Twitter go to go prom with him and he accepted.

And strangely... they all sounded like things he would do. She didn't find a single one hard to believe. She couldn't even find it in her to question his motives, that it was all for publicity, because she knew for a fact there was more that he media hadn't gotten their hands on.

And it was just... hard to reconcile the public image of Darcy, who's a great guy, with what Wickham's told her (definitely not a decent guy at all), with what she's personally seen (jury's still out on that one). She sulked for a while on set about it, doing her best to figure out who the real Darcy is. Is he one of those three portrayals? Is he all of them? Is he someone else entirely?

It didn't help that he was so _terribly_ nice to her during filming. More so than he'd ever been before. He'd seek her out to talk or show her things. It was really sweet, the way he saw that she was uncomfortable and was trying to fix it. But it was confusing, because William Darcy had never done that before. William Darcy only tolerated her, like he did half of the people she'd seen him interact with.

Right?

When she looked at the filming schedule and realized that they'd have to start kissing soon, her heart squeezed painfully and her stomach dropped. Was Darcy trying to make her comfortable just so the kiss would look better? So it'd be less awkward? Was it no more than an extension of the professionalism she'd come to expect? Or was it genuine affection?

Elizabeth had no idea which one she wanted it to be. She was, however, sure that it was _infuriating_ given her determination to dislike him.

"So he's being the epitome of a nice guy, and you're _upset_?"

"Just because he's being nice to me right now doesn't excuse his treatment of others, Charlotte."

"Okay, good point. So, how _does_ he treat other people?" She stopped Elizabeth from answering, fury coloring her cheeks as she was about to explain _again_ his unfair treatment of Wickham. "Not second hand accounts, Lizzie. How does he treat the other people on set? The cast? The crew? Interviewers? What have you _seen_?"

Lizzie opened her mouth to say that of course he was rude and standoffish and... Huh, now that she was actually thinking about it, she'd never personally _witnessed_ him be rude to anyone. Ever. He was easy to get tongue tied when they weren't filming, but he was always polite when he managed to recover. He was polite and courteous to the crew. When fans would tour the set, he was pleasant if not a bit reserved.

Charlotte had the good graces not to appear too smug when Lizzie couldn't sight a single example other than their first meeting.

Then the kissing scenes started and damn was it good. She _hated_ that she liked it. But she was always good at getting into character. Letting someone else's life take over for a bit was cathartic sometimes. But she couldn't attribute of it to that. The frenzy lurking behind each kiss, like there was something each was holding back lest it got out and destroyed everything in its path.

Elizabeth wasn't an idiot. She knew they had great chemistry, but she always thought it was fueled by their mutual dislike. But that was getting harder and harder to justify as the reason behind the mounting sexual tension. The way he kissed her wasn't... It couldn't be... And she shouldn't... Right?

She buried all the doubts and confusion for days. It was slowly driving her crazy, and she was honestly starting to question whether she'd survive filming. So on a whim, she followed him back to his trailer. Get it out of their systems, so to speak, and get on with their work.

It was good. All that chemistry and heat and everything every movie goer had ever said about them? Yeah, apparently it wasn't just on set.

She'd assumed it was just a one-night stand. Work out some tension so they could focus. Sure, if she were being honest with herself (and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that just yet), she'd be open to a repeat performance. She didn't really want to examine that eagerness too closely, and decided it would probably be best to keep it as a one time thing. No reason to complicate things.

(There was that look in his eyes when she'd left his trailer. Something sad that she couldn't quite understand. So like most of what didn't fit into her image of William Darcy, she did her best to ignore it.)

On set the next day, she was relieved that things could hopefully be less tense between them. Maybe she could move on from this weird physical attraction she had to him. One that defied all reason and logic, that didn't make sense _at all_.

But things were off afterward. It took a few days to pin down what it was. But then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Between takes, his shoulders slumped slightly and his eyes were empty. He was... he was so fucking _sad_. She stared at him openly, gawking really, but as soon as he saw her he straightened up, gave a small smile, and turned away.

Darcy was an actor, and a damn good one at that, so perhaps it wasn't surprising he'd hid it. But now that she's seen it, she couldn't un-see it. How he abruptly stopped trying to tell her jokes (or talk to her at all really, besides about the scene they were working on). The sexual tension was gone, evaporated like it had never been there, but it's been replaced by something much worse.

When they filmed a scene where the couple split up because he was going to war... The scene itself was supposed to be heart-wrenching, but it was actually pretty devastating for Lizzie to film. As she got more and more into character, the whole scene was making her tear up. But the way he kissed her good-bye...

They pulled apart from the kiss and it wasn't their characters looking at each other. It was Elizabeth Bennet and William Darcy, and Darcy looked _wretched_. And while he funneled that into his portrayal, the mask had been lifted and Lizzie saw that it was all him.

And she'd made a terrible mistake.

* * *

 **AN:** Hopefully I did a decent job of showing that Lizzie is extremely confused when it comes to Darcy. Lots of attraction, but she's getting mixed signals, and her initial bad impression colors every interaction she has with him. ? Let me know!


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